This is the place to find ideas for art projects, or just a place to talk about being a creative educator.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Prints galore!

Up until a few years ago I hated printmaking. For one, I wasn't really good at it and had never really taken a good class about it, but more than that I hated the oil based ink that you had to use. I hated having to keep turpentine around, and everything getting sticky and messy and all of that mess transferring to hands, clothes, counters, tables and whatever else was touched with that messy ink.

But now that they make waterbased printing inks, I am much more inclined to do printmaking as an assignment. This year I didn't exactly know what type of printmaking assignment I wanted to give to my advanced students, so I kind of left the category open ended and let them do anything they wanted. A few of them really surprised me with some great designs, and I am really in love with the double project where they first carved the outline (most of them did an animal) and then they made about a dozen prints with that outline in a variety of colors and then they carved details into the outline shape and then reprinted it over their original, but in different colors. I think that is a project that I will continue to use for years to come.